Limited population structure, genetic drift and bottlenecks characterise an endangered bird species in a dynamic, fire-prone ecosystem

Fire is a major disturbance process in many ecosystems world-wide, resulting in spatially and temporally dynamic landscapes. For populations occupying such environments, fire-induced landscape change is likely to influence population processes, and genetic patterns and structure among populations. The Mallee Emu-wren Stipiturus mallee is an endangered passerine whose global distribution is confined to fire-prone, semi-arid mallee shrublands in south-eastern Australia. This species, with poor capacity for dispersal, has undergone a precipitous reduction in distribution and numbers in recent decades. We used genetic analyses of 11 length-variable, nuclear loci to examine population structure and processes within this species, across its global range. Populations of the Mallee Emu-wren exhibited a low to moderate level of genetic diversity, and evidence of bottlenecks and genetic drift. Bayesian clustering methods revealed weak genetic population structure across the species\u27 range. The direct effects of large fires, together with associated changes in the spatial and temporal patterns of suitable habitat, have the potential to cause population bottlenecks, serial local extinctions and subsequent recolonisation, all of which may interact to erode and homogenise genetic diversity in this species. Movement among temporally and spatially shifting habitat, appears to maintain long-term genetic connectivity. A plausible explanation for the observed genetic patterns is that, following extensive fires, recolonisation exceeds in-situ survival as the primary driver of population recovery in this species. These findings suggest that dynamic, fire-dominated landscapes can drive genetic homogenisation of populations of species with low-mobility and specialised habitat that otherwise would be expected to show strongly structured populations. Such effects must be considered when formulating management actions to conserve species in fire-prone systems

The impact of Nutrition and Gastrointestinal Symptoms on Health-related Quality of Life in Survivorship after Oesophageal Cancer Surgery

Summary Background and Aims Oesophagectomy is the primary curative treatment for oesophageal cancer but is associated with considerable postoperative morbidity and mortality. To better understand the aetiology of impaired health-related quality of life (HRQL) in oesophageal cancer survivors (OCS), this study sought to determine the longitudinal changes in nutritional status, nutrition-impact symptoms (NIS), and HRQL in this cohort, and to determine which variables have the greatest impact on postoperative HRQL decline. Methods Data, derived from St. James\u27 Hospital, Dublin, included patients who underwent oesophagectomy from October 2017 to May 2019 and attended clinic preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. A subset attended a further 12-month appointment. HRQL and symptom data were collected using validated questionnaires and anthropometric measures were completed by clinicians. Data were analysed using SPSS. Results A total of 66 patients were studied preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively, of whom 37 were studied at 12 months postoperatively. Malnutrition remained prevalent at each time-point, although rates did not significantly change longitudinally. Conversely, the prevalence of malabsorption (7.6%–14.3%, P\u3c0.001) and dumping syndrome (67.7%–74.3%, P=0.003) significantly increased with increasing time postoperatively. NIS were significantly associated with impaired HRQL function scores and were independent predictors of global quality of life (gQOL) score postoperatively (P=0.004). A diagnostic threshold of gastrointestinal symptom severity (11.5) that identifies patients at risk of impaired gQOL was therefore reported. Conclusion Malnutrition and NIS are prevalent post-oesophagectomy, the latter significantly associated with reduced HRQL. Targeted intervention in those with severe NIS could be highly beneficial, highlighting the need for dietetic input in OCS

The Anatomy of Sartorius Muscle and its Implications for Sarcoma Radiotherapy

Purpose: Controversy exists as to whether sartorius muscle is completely invested in fascia. If it is, then direct tumour involvement from soft tissue sarcoma of the anterior thigh would be unlikely and would justify omitting sartorius from the radiotherapy volume

Can uptake of childhood influenza immunisation through schools and GP practices be increased through behaviourally-informed invitation letters and reminders: two pragmatic randomized controlled trials

Background: The UK is rolling out a national childhood influenza immunisation programme for children, delivered through primary care and schools. Behaviourally-informed letters and reminders have been successful at increasing uptake of other public health interventions. Therefore, we investigated the effects of a behaviourally-informed letter on uptake of the vaccine at GP practices, and of a letter and a reminder (SMS/ email) on uptake at schools. Methods and results: Study 1 was a cluster-randomised parallel trial of 21,786 two- and three-year olds in 250 GP practices, conducted during flu season (September to January inclusive) 2016/7. The intervention was a centrally-sent behaviourally-informed invitation letter, control was usual care. The proportion of two- and three-year olds in each practice who received a vaccination by 31st January 2017 was 23.4% in the control group compared to 37.1% in the intervention group (OR = 1.93; 95% CI = 1.82, 2.05, p < 0.001). Study 2 was a 2 (behavioural letter vs standard letter) × 2 (reminder vs no reminder) factorial trial of 1108 primary schools which included 3010 school years 1–3. Letters were sent to parents from providers, and reminders sent to parents from the schools. In the standard-letter-no-reminder arm, an average of 61.6% of eligible children in each school year were vaccinated, compared to 61.9% in the behavioural-letter-no-reminder arm, 63.5% in the standard-letter-plus-reminder arm, and 62.9% in the behavioural-letter-plus reminder condition, F(3, 2990) = 2.68, p = 0.046. In a multi-level model, with demographic variables as fixed effects, the proportion of eligible students in the school year who were vaccinated increased with the reminder, β = 0.086 (0.041), p < 0.036, but there was no effect of the letter nor any interaction effect. Conclusion: Sending a behaviourally informed invitation letter can increase uptake of childhood influenza vaccines at the GP surgery compared to usual practice. A reminder SMS or email can increase uptake of the influenza vaccine in schools, but the effect size was minimal. Trial registration: Study 1: Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02921633. Study 2: Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02883972

Detection of bovine inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α with a multiplex electrochemiluminescent assay platform

Commercially available bovine-specific assays are limited in number, and multiplex assays for this species are rare. Our objective was to develop a multiplex assay for the bovine inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα using the Meso Scale Discovery U-PLEX platform. Do-It-Yourself ELISA kits that contained polyclonal antibodies, both unlabeled and biotinylated, and the specific recombinant bovine cytokine standard, were purchased for each of these three cytokines. The biotinylated antibodies were coupled to linkers that bind to specific locations within each well of the U-PLEX plate. Unique linkers were used for each of the cytokines. The unlabeled antibodies were conjugated with electrochemiluminescent labels to serve as detection antibodies. Each cytokine assay was optimized individually prior to performing an optimization on the multiplex assay containing reagents for all three cytokines. To calculate cytokine concentrations, standard curves were developed using the recombinant cytokines and were run concurrently on each plate. Standard curves for IL-1β and TNF-α were run at concentrations ranging from 0 to 50,000 pg/mL, and for IL-6 from 0 to 10,000 pg/mL. The average lowest level of detection concentration measured by the standard curves were 5.3 pg/mL, 0.92 pg/mL, and 22.34 pg/mL for IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α respectively, as determined by data from seven plates containing bovine plasma samples from a combination of healthy and diseased cattle. The U-PLEX platform was a viable means to develop custom analyte- and species-specific multiplex assays using privately developed or purchased sets of commercially available reagents

Impaired expression of metallothioneins contributes to allergen-induced inflammation in patients with atopic dermatitis

Regulation of cutaneous immunity is severely compromised in inflammatory skin disease. To investigate the molecular crosstalk underpinning tolerance versus inflammation in atopic dermatitis, we utilise a human in vivo allergen challenge study, exposing atopic dermatitis patients to house dust mite. Here we analyse transcriptional programmes at the population and single cell levels in parallel with immunophenotyping of cutaneous immunocytes revealed a distinct dichotomy in atopic dermatitis patient responsiveness to house dust mite challenge. Our study shows that reactivity to house dust mite was associated with high basal levels of TNF-expressing cutaneous Th17 T cells, and documents the presence of hub structures where Langerhans cells and T cells co-localised. Mechanistically, we identify expression of metallothioneins and transcriptional programmes encoding antioxidant defences across all skin cell types, that appear to protect against allergen-induced inflammation. Furthermore, single nucleotide polymorphisms in the MTIX gene are associated with patients who did not react to house dust mite, opening up possibilities for therapeutic interventions modulating metallothionein expression in atopic dermatitis

Slip-Sliding Away: Serial Changes and Homoplasy in Repeat Number in the Drosophila yakuba Homolog of Human Cancer Susceptibility Gene BRCA2

Several recent studies have examined the function and evolution of a Drosophila homolog to the human breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2, named dmbrca2. We previously identified what appeared to be a recent expansion in the RAD51-binding BRC-repeat array in the ancestor of Drosophila yakuba. In this study, we examine patterns of variation and evolution of the dmbrca2 BRC-repeat array within D. yakuba and its close relatives. We develop a model of how unequal crossing over may have produced the expanded form, but we also observe short repeat forms, typical of other species in the D. melanogaster group, segregating within D. yakuba and D. santomea. These short forms do not appear to be identical-by-descent, suggesting that the history of dmbrca2 in the D. melanogaster subgroup has involved repeat unit contractions resulting in homoplasious forms. We conclude that the evolutionary history of dmbrca2 in D. yakuba and perhaps in other Drosophila species may be more complicated than can be inferred from examination of the published single genome sequences per species

Liquid phase blending of metal-organic frameworks.

The liquid and glass states of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently become of interest due to the potential for liquid-phase separations and ion transport, alongside the fundamental nature of the latter as a new, fourth category of melt-quenched glass. Here we show that the MOF liquid state can be blended with another MOF component, resulting in a domain structured MOF glass with a single, tailorable glass transition. Intra-domain connectivity and short range order is confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and pair distribution function measurements. The interfacial binding between MOF domains in the glass state is evidenced by electron tomography, and the relationship between domain size and Tg investigated. Nanoindentation experiments are also performed to place this new class of MOF materials into context with organic blends and inorganic alloys